Fast growth of the pervasive computing and handheld/communication industry has generated exploding demand for high capacity non-volatile solid-state data storage devices. Current technology like flash memory, that utilizes a floating gate from which electrons tunnel, has several drawbacks such as slow access speed, limited endurance, and the integration difficulty. Flash memory (NAND or NOR) also faces significant scaling problems.
Resistive sense memories are promising candidates for future non-volatile and universal memory by storing data bits as either a high or low resistance state. One such memory, resistive RAM (RRAM) has a variable resistance layer that can switch between a high resistance state and a low resistance state (for example by the presence or absence of a conductive filament or interface effect variation) by applicant of a current or voltage.
However, many yield-limiting factors must be overcome before resistive sense memory enters the production stage, including better switching current characteristics.